Death of a Hero
by The True Catnip
Summary: I did this by choice, it was me and me alone. Don't try to fix this, I'm done. I'm done with being hated, I'm done with the hate I get even though all I ever do is help people.


It happened all at once.

No one could understand why he suddenly became near impossible to find on days they actually did see him.

Kakashi went to look for him one day, as he had missed the days training. When he went in the house though, it looked like he had been gone for days.

Dust covered all surfaces, and it smelled like it did when a place was left empty for too long, it smelled like emptiness.

Kakashi immediately alerted the Hokage, and several hunter nin began to look for the usually cheerful blond.

They found traces of him going into the forest days earlier, but recent rain had prevented any other traces. The search continued though, no one wanted the hero of the war gone too long, if they were attacked he was their best fighter.

A week after they had discovered he was gone, they found something that made them lose all hope.

 _I did this by choice, it was me and me alone. Don't try to fix this, I'm done. I'm done with being hated, I'm done with the hate I get even though all I ever do is help people._ Was on the paper.

A few feet away laying peacefully there was a body. It hadn't been touched by any animals. It didn't even look like it had been decaying for over a week. They found the body of Uzumaki Naruto encased in blue crystal, his hands in a hand seal, showing that he had used his chakra to kill himself and make sure his body was protected.

The hunter nin were careful as they carried his body back. The Hokage looked at it with horror on her face, more visible than anything else.

Kakashi was the next one to see him, and regardless of how tough the copy ninja was, it was clear he was crying. He had lost people before, but he never expected Naruto to die, and certainly by will.

Sakura broke down immediately, not able to hold it in. She could only think of how team 7 was done for.

Hinata didn't believe it at first, but with the use of her family's gift, she saw it was true, there was no more chakra in his body.

Her sobs cut down any and all of the ones who spend their day's torments the blond. She tried to break open the crystal, but no amount of strength could damage it. When she finally stopped, kneeling in the dirt, tears streaming down her face, she rested her head on the stone. "Good bye Naruto."

Lee tried to hide his tears, but it was impossible for him. Even Neji shed tears.

It began to rain softly as they carried away the encased body. People came out to the streets to watch as the hero was carried down the street in a somber parade.

One man had the guts to start cheering "The demons final dead!" From his window sill.

He was surprised when they all looked up him with glares that would make anyone run away. Hinata clenched her fists so hard that blood began to leak out. Then she fell to her knees as sobs wracked her body again.

Kakashi put it arm around her, not able to stop the flow of salt that ran down his face without restraint.

He helped her up, and they continued the march. Some people joined them, like several Jonin that had seen him.

Few villagers would show up though. Most watched as he was carried away. Tsunade kept on the face of a strong leader, but her chin kept trembling, and others knew it was all a show to inspire the others.

His funeral at the very edge of training ground seven was dead silent, and no one but Tsunade, Sakura, Kakashi, and Hinata were invited. Team Gai showed up to pay their respects, and Gaara travelled there as well. Team Kurenai came with those from team Asuma, but none said anything before leaving.

When it ended, everyone left. The only thing left was a large uneven blue stone with a hero inside. The Hokage made it clear that to deface it at all was punishable by death.

There laid the hero, always slumbering. The only ones who would visit him were those he loved, and those who loved him. Hinata, Kakashi, and Tsunade. Everyone else would hide away or make excuses to why they couldn't come as he faded from their memory over time.

After fifty years, the only one who would visit was Hinata, Kakashi dying some years prior on a mission and Tsunade passing away one night in a drunken haze from old age.

Hinata never married. She rarely went on missions with others, preferring to go alone. She would always come by and watch as the man she loved would stay so still, she always expected him to move.

When she died thirty years later from old age in the night, her will directed them to bury her next to Naruto, and five years after that, nature had covered the area so much that no one could tell that Kohona's greatest hero and the one who loved him laid there.


End file.
